The following questions can be used to generate responses to any of the above
pieces of literature.

Which character do you like
best and why?

Which character do you sympathize
with most?

Can you make any connections
between the book and something from your life or a friend’s life?

What do you think the author
wanted us to get from the book?

What is really important about this story?

How did it make you feel?

What did it make you wonder about?

How did it surprise you?

Which mental images were the strongest?

What did this story teach you about the world, yourself, and others?

If you were going to write
a novel or story about a similar issue, how would you do it differently?

Do you know anyone who should
read this book?

What parts of the book seemed
most realistic?Most unrealistic?

How would you have behaved
differently or similarly to one or more characters in the book?

How did you picture each character?Who should play the each character in a movie version of the book?

Pick out a line of dialogue
from an antagonist (a character who opposes the main character) in the book.How
do you picture the antagonist saying this line?Try it out on the class.

Should the book have ended
differently?

How does the cover of the
book reflect the story?Does it fit with the story?

What does it take to put yourself
in someone else’s shoes?Did the book allow for this in any way?

In what ways did the book
make you think or reevaluate?

FAQs

Why use young adult
literature?

YA literature has several key advantages when utilized in the high school classroom:

The content is almost always
applicable to the age group.

The reading level is such
that most high school students, including ESL students, will be able to benefit from the oral reading.

The reading level enables
faster-paced reading, making the works applicable to the short span of a mentor period.

Many YA authors write with
the idea of oral readings in mind; therefore, the books are more suited for reading aloud.

Teachers of all subject areas
can feel confident about the project and more confident in reading aloud.

What if my students
aren’t receptive the issues brought forth from the reading?

Not every student will want to discuss the book, and that’s ok.The main objective is to read the book together in hopes that individuals will at
least think about the social issues involved.

What if one of the
students in my group makes fun of a sensitive issue?

Assess the situation or comment and then address the problem as you would in
any other classroom.

What if my students
aren’t enjoying the book?

Try to change up the routine.Perhaps
you could alternate readers or make a contest for the most interesting reader.Those
in classrooms equipped with an LCD projector might try projecting the text from an e-book.

We’re finished
with the book, what now?

Follow-ups are not necessary, although some houses or mentor groups may want
to think about how to spread awareness regarding issues brought up through the course of reading the book.